FSRCanada

Syringe Tek

This syringe tek replaces the note that has been sent with all FSRC  prints. To properly examine your spores, it is best to prepare them in an aqueous solution of sterile water. Mushroom spores are one of the most interesting microscopic anomalies of nature. Virtually invisible to the naked eye, the mushroom spore, once dropped from its fruit can survive outrageous environmental conditions in its path to reproduce. I have personally seen mushroom prints over 30 yrs old, still viable, and spore solutions over 5 yrs old, also viable. I’ve seen year old dried mycelium revived on agar, and both spores and mycelium frozen solid and still bear fruit.

Make Your Own Syringes

By Shdwstr  —  FSRCanada

Items Needed

1. Spore Print

2. Sterile Baggie or shot glass

3. Scalpel/exacto knife

4. Sterile water

5. 10—12cc empty sterile syringes

6. Syringe caps

7. Syringe tips, 18 gauge 1.5 inches in length.

8. Alcohol

9. Alcohol lamp or butane lighter

10. Tape or labels

Last updated

January 1st, 2009

It just stands to reason you would want to view your spores in their most viable state, as nature intended! To do this, your spores must be re-hydrated from their dried state. A recent print, under a couple months old, will re-hydrate in 12 – 24 hrs. A print a year or more old can take up to a week to re-hydrate to its most viable state.

So let’s make a syringe.

First things we will need are some 10 or 12 cc, clean sterile syringes. You can get these from most pharmacy stores or farm supply stores. You will also need some syringe caps/ and or syringe tips with a 1.5 inch needle tip. I prefer an 18 gauge needle for spore solutions.

Next we will need a jug of distilled water and a small pot, metal or glass, not Teflon coated. Teflon retains oils and will release it into your nice distilled water. Depending on how many syringes you have, fill your pot with more than the amount of water to fill them all. If you are reusing old (but cleaned) syringes, be sure to have double the amount of water that is needed to fill the syringes. This will allow enough boiling water to rinse them at least once before filling.

Bring your distilled water to a light boil for approximately 5 min. If you wish to add a suspension agent, now is the time. In my opinion it’s not really necessary though.

Want a suspension formula? 

Try 4 drops of jet dry, or a photographic wetting agent, and 4 drops of glycerin per 100ml of distilled water.

Open your sterile syringes and fill with the boiling water, cap, and let cool. If you are re-using cleaned syringes, I advise you to fill the syringe with the boiling water and discard it, at least once, before your final fill.

Once your syringes are filled with boiling water, put them away to cool, until you’re ready to add your spores to them. Blanks (distilled water syringes) can be stored in a large freezer bag until it’s time to add spores to them.

Ok… it’s time to add spores.

Now I assume you have your FSRC print in the sterile baggie ready... correct?

If so… this is gonna be easy. Take your scalpel, or sterilized exacto knife, steak knife etc., and scrape the spores from your print into the baggie, or shot glass if you got your print “Somewhere Else!”

Squirt one of your blank syringes into your spores, shake the hell out of the baggie, or stir up your shot glass, and suck it back up into your syringe.

You should now have a fairly dark, master syringe. Be sure to label it!

Need more than one syringe?  Squirt a cc or two of your master syringe back into the baggie you just used and add 2 – 4 more blank syringes to it. Shake it up. Suck it back into the syringes, and you now have 4 diluted syringes for examining, and a master syringe of the same strain to make more in the future.

Simple…  yes, but if you want to be successful, be sure to practice sterile techniques.

 

If you have a flow hood… use it!  If not…

Turn your furnace or any fans off 30 minutes prior to working

Clean your work area and wipe down with disinfectant or a diluted bleach solution.

Be sure to sterilize your tools, syringe tips, etc etc, with alcohol, and flame sterilize often.

 

Hope this helps.

Enjoy

FSRCanada  -  Box 27005,  75 Dundas St.,  Cambridge, ON  N1R 8H1